A better cleric?

[ariel7]

My main is a Drow Cleric, and, my first cleric ever. (First drow, first a lot of things really) He's a blast to play, and I have a lot of fun with him. I've soloed all the Vale quests except sleeping dust and ritual with him, he's just a blast. Not really knowing any better, though, I made a couple of "mistakes" that I'm eager to not repeat and to learn from with my better cleric that I will roll next.

Specifically, I went 15 charisma and 17 wisdom. I thought turning would be more useful, and held back my wisdom score all in the name of being a big turning machine and making my build better. I DID start 12 con, and took con as my favor tome, which I think helps a lot. Sitting at 286 hit points, I think I've got a minimal level of hp for a cleric. Enough to get by, more would be nice. I usually have the fewest spell points of any cleric in the Shroud runs I do though...at least with shroud upgrades for this I will soon be correcting this flaw.

I really dislike it when I don't kill my target with destruction/dismissal/slay living/banishment. I'd LOVE to take more spell pen feats, but while ONE level of wizard rocks for an extra meta feat, no way in hell am I taking 5 levels for a second. My current cleric has extend, empower, maximize, quicken, enlarge and spell pen. Enlarge as it were is more of a luxury feat than I first felt it was, when I was doing a lot of soloing outdoor areas and learning to play/cast effectively. Thing is, with my current idea, there just isn't any room for spell pen feats OR enhancements. The bonus, I suppose, is that my new cleric should have a higher DC than my current one by TWO if I make a shroud item for 3 more. This is actually 2 dc more (one more after my current cleric finishes his shroud item).

So..how does this sound?

Dwarf
s 16 con 16 wis 18
+2 tomes all around

Level 1 Cleric
Leverl 2 Fighter
Levels 3-15 Cleric
Level 16 Wizard

Toughness, Empower Spell, Mental Toughness, Improved Mental Toughness, WF Slash, Extend Spell, Maximize.

Without favor, GFL OR a con item but using the toughness enhancements makes 299hps, and sps with Dwarven faith and energy of the zealot 1254 raw sps (no items at all, not even counting from Wisdom above 27, and that would be 36 with +6 item and shroud item)

Other pros: With Fighter giving martial weapons and all Dwarves allowed to use Dwarf Axes as a martial weapon (so still a penalty if pure cleric) I can give a paralyzer, disruptor, banisher and smiter to my baby cleric to give him some far more useful weapons than his predecessor had to make do with as he was coming up.

For not being able to cast mass death ward I still have some halfway decent feats, improving numbers on hit points and spell points both, higher wisdom, more resistant to being enfeebled, hardier and a lot more functional when out of spell points.

Cons? No mass death ward, an extra item slot or two, still not able to get to 38/40 wisdom. (18+4 levels +2 tome+6 item +3 enhancement+3 shroud item = 36 wisdom. Saves aren't very good at all.

Options? I suppose 2 monk levels instead of one fighter/one wizard gives toughness x2 and one less meta feat, and would need to be 14 dex 12 str instead (which seems to be a LOT less effective melee) and further restricts to robes/outfits for the wisdom bonus (which would be a juicy 13) to ac (and 5 from dex) assuming my str item is now a dex one. Paladin? Possibly something could be done with a reworking of the stats. HUman instead of Dwarf gives another wisdom point, and one less con, making me more hoping on a +3 tome for both...an extra feat and a skill point each level. If I go monk, then Halfling/Elf might be better options. WF might be a nice option if I switch wizard with sorcerer.

I'm at a point I get to all too frequently, I have 3-4 competing builds for the same idea and can't seem to select the path that fits my play style the best. Hopefully with some recommendations from the DDO at large community I can better choose the best path for me. Thanks guys.

[Eudimio]

I don't get it. You're taking your least-favorite aspect of your current build and making it worse. That is, you are lowering your spell penetration by THREE. To balance this, you chose to improve an aspect that you already find acceptable (hitpoints).

[Impaqt]

I dont feel SPell DC is the primary issue in the vale. Its the extremely high Spell Resistance.... A Build like this makes that Problem Much worse.

A Fighter Level for WF: SLash? Seriously bad idea. A well equipt battle cleric has no need for such a feat. We can get our To Hit Easily on the mid 30's self buffed.

A Level of Wiz for an extra Meta? On a Build like this? No way. Be a Melee Cleric or Be a Caster Cleric. With Empower and Maximize, Blade Barrier tears though EVERYTHING in the vale. WHat exactly do you intend on using that Fighter level for then?

You Lose a boatload of Spell Points in this build.. FIghter Level + Wizard Level means your down over 200 Spell Points from a typical cleric and over 300 Spell Points down from myMaximized Cleric/Paly Splash Build.

THis cleric will not be fun end game. You'll be seeing lots of Blue Flashes in front of your mobs, you'll run low on Spell Points if you take advantage of that Max/Empowered Blade Barrier too often... You dont have Quicken so you will get interupted often trying to get that Blade barrier in place.

BTW: Your also Missing a Feat now that I add em up.... THis build would get 8. 6 Standard. 1 Fighter, 1 Wizard Bonus meta.